Brammo raising money for global expansion with private stock offering

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Brammo has entered a second round of capital raising by offering $30 million worth of company stock for private sale. The Ashland, Oregon-based manufacturer of electric motorcycles raised $11 million in its initial round back in 2008. Having already developed a range of electric motorcycles and announced a deal with Flextronics to make use of the electronics giant’s global manufacturing facilities, the additional money is likely needed to expand Brammo’s dealer network and grow brand awareness in new markets.

Considering that Brammo plans to expand into both European and Asian markets as well as grow its tiny presence in the US market, this $30 million figure is positively lilliputian compared to similar budgets from established players like BMW or KTM who are running similar expansion programs.

“One of the goals of the company is to be super capital efficient and get to profitability with as little capital expense cost as possible,” said Bramscher. “That is why leveraging partners like Flextronics to their highest and best contribution is critical and a huge differentiator for Brammo.”

That Flextronics deal, which we announced last week, is key to Brammo’s ability to expand relatively cheaply. By leveraging the huge manufacturing and purchasing assets of Flex, Brammo will effectively be able to act like a huge manufacturer for only a tiny fraction of the investment say, Honda puts into building and selling bikes across the world.

According to the SEC filing, which you can see here, Brammo is raising a total of $30 million and has already sold over $12 million of that. Some of the $17.5 million remainder will likely come from existing investors with a commitment to continue their investment.

The private stock offering differs from a public offering in that it enables the company in question to raise money without gambling on the whims of the stock market. It also allows the company to keep most information private, which is why there’s an air of secrecy here, with no details of Brammo’s total valuation or current levels of debt.

So what’s the significance of all this? This second round of financing should be seen as a significant milestone on Brammo’s road to becoming a major vehicle manufacturer. That they’re planning to expand globally with such a small amount of money is a good indicator of the company’s frugal ways which is, in turn, an extremely positive sign that they’ll be able to flourish under economic conditions that are crippling or destroying established motorcycle manufacturing competitors. Financial prudence, global sales and manufacturing and exciting products like the 100mph+ Brammo Empulse sounds like the perfect recipe for a successful American motorcycle company.